


Questions and (Some) Answers

by CaraLee



Series: A Fractured Fairy Tale [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen, Ghost Shiro (Voltron), Homeless Keith (Voltron), Witch Allura (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 10:27:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16514606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaraLee/pseuds/CaraLee
Summary: In Which Shiro and Keith Decide to Do Things





	Questions and (Some) Answers

It isn’t like Keith is unused to weird shit happening. What’s weirdest about this particular  _ brand  _ of weird shit is that it doesn’t seem to be entirely Keith’s fault. (Give it time, he’s sure that will prove to be false.)

 

It’s partly his fault of course, if he’d been able to find Shiro then maybe he wouldn’t be  _ a ghost _ right now. But it's a different kind of fault then all the foster families that got rid of him because of his creepy noises and habits and tendency to bite when he felt threatened. 

 

This time, there is someone else who is even more to blame.

 

And when he find them, Keith is going to  _ destroy _ them.

 

Unfortunately, despite having kind of found Shiro (Shiro finding him?) he still isn’t any closer to finding the people who  _ took _ him.

 

The people who  _ killed him _ .

 

He isn’t aware that he is growling, deep in his chest until Shiro shoots him the Concerned Face TM . The one that both Shiro and Baba Rei always used when he did something weird and they were concerned. ( _ For _ him, not  _ about  _ him. Which is the weirdest part.) He forces himself to fall silent, which is more difficult than it used to be. He hasn’t had the  _ energy _ to suppress his freakishness while being homeless. It’s even been helpful on occasion, for finding food and scaring off people who thought that just because he was small he was a good target.

 

All that aside, they still have to figure out what to do next. He doesn’t have any more resources than he did before Shiro found him and Shiro has no memory of who took him or where he was, he’d gotten that much before he’d tuned out Shiro’s rant about how he is  _ not  _ going to go after them.

 

Part of him feels guilty for not listening, after he’d spent a year wishing for the chance to be lectured at again, but the rest of him is too busy wrapping himself in the physical sensations of being near Shiro to care. True, he smells... _ off _ . Musty, like the old family heirlooms that  _ Obaasan _ and  _ Sofu  _ used to pull out of storage when they wanted to tell stories. Shiro smells like Shiro but faded. He isn’t warm anymore. Not like he used to be. But he’s still there and Keith can still feel him even if there is something about him that makes occasional chills shudder up his spine and across the bridge of his nose.

 

It’s probably because of the ghost thing.

 

“Keith.” Shiro must have realized he wasn’t listening because he’s looking a little exasperated now, his nose wrinkling and pulling at the new scar stretched just below his eyes. Keith tries not to look at him for too long because if he does he can see the brickwork of the alley wall through him. “We do need some kind of plan. First of all,” and now he looks stern. “You need a better place to stay.”

 

Keith opens his mouth to argue and...yeah, he really can’t. For some reason, the idea of continuing to sleep on fire escapes and behind dumpsters becomes that much worse when he adds a fretting and concerned Shiro to the equation. Especially a fretting and concerned Shiro that can’t actually  _ do _ anything. (The only thing worse than Mother-Hen Shiro is Mother-Hen Shiro feeling useless.)

 

“It’s not like I have a lot of options.” He points out. “Most places aren’t super enthusiastic about hiring homeless dropouts.”

 

“You dropped out of school!” Shiro looks upset all over again and Keith feels equal parts guilty and exasperated.

 

“What was I going to do? Show up at GG in my street clothes like, ‘Hey! I’m on the run from CPS, but I’m here to go to class anyway?’”

 

Shiro looks a little like he wants to cry for a moment but also a little bit like he wants to strangle Keith and Keith is suddenly uncomfortably reminded of every legend of vengeful spirits he’s heard of. (Which is a lot. So he had a Supernatural phase, so what? Shiro had watched it with him, though mostly because he thought the Winchesters were hot.)

 

With one deep breath followed by several more in a pattern intimately familiar to Keith from years of helping Shiro after episodes and Shiro helping him with his anxiety attacks in turn, Shiro calms himself down enough to move on.

 

“So what do we have?”

 

Keith shrugs, not sure if he wants to admit just how few belongings he has to his name right now. “I  _ can _ work, if we can find someone to hire me. And you can...do whatever...you can do.”

 

He can’t force himself to say the word. That would make it real. Shiro looks thoughtful though.

 

“I don’t really know what I can do. We should probably figure that out.” He give the wall a considering look. “I went intangible earlier, at the apartment.”

 

Keith opens his mouth and Shiro cuts him off without even turning around to look at him. “No, we will not become bank robbers, Keith.”

 

“But-” Keith tries again. 

 

“No.”

 

Keith most certainly does  _ not _ pout as he watches Shiro lay a hand on the wall and frown at it for a moment as nothing happens. “What did went through you?”

 

“I fell through the window,” Shiro answers absently, moving a bit further down the wall and trying again with the same results, or lack thereof. “And then whoever is living there now walked through me.” He winces. “That was unpleasant.” 

 

“Then why didn’t I fall through you?” Keith frowns, trying to parse out the possibilities.

 

“I don’t know,” Shiro responds, apparently giving up on trying to phase through the wall for the time being and turning back to face him. “But I’m glad you didn’t.”

 

Keith imagines hitting the ground face-first and winces. “Yeah, me too.”

 

With a heart-felt sigh, Shiro runs his remaining hand through his hair, ruffling the newly pale fluff at the front.

 

“This would be so much easier if we had someone who knew about this stuff.”

 

_ Yeah, _ Keith thought sardonically.  _ But since when have things ever been easy for us? _


End file.
